Friday, July 7, 2017

We rode through Vail, Colorado on the way to Glenwood Springs on June 20.
It was another impromptu side trip. The motorcoach was too big to park so we weren't able to walk around but we did see some beautiful flowers on the streets and along the highway.

Ellen came up with the first two and Annie of McGuffy’s Reader came up with the second two. Please purr and pray for Annie’s beautiful cat, Chloe Jo , she has been having numerous health problems and was hospitalized for several days.

1. My favorite line from a film(s) is "you should be the leading lady of your own life". Line was said to Kate Winsett in The Holiday, starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winsett

From Grease, one of the Pink Ladies is wearing some atrocious pink sunglasses with rhinestones and trying to be very sophisticated. When one of the rhinestones falls in her lunch, she says "double doo doo"! For some reason it cracks me up every time I hear it.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Click here to read all about the Cliffs Palace of the Ancient Pueblo People

I was truly in awe of the entire tour. It was HOT as blue blazes though.

I'd recommend one take this tour in late April or early May

To get to the location below where the tour began was better suited for a mountain goat. Everyone made it w/o incident. One lady on our tour was deathly afraid of heights.

She literally took some of it on all fours

In the picture below we have made our trek way down to a cover area where the Park Ranger is

giving a presentation before we all traipse down to see the buildings.

It was a tad hard to concentrate on what she was saying. Our group consisted of my tour mates and about 25 other folks including a toddler about 18 months old.

STEPPING ON MY SOAP BOX MOMENT

THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR ANY CHILD UNDER 10! PERIOD EXCLAMATION POINT!!

STEPPING OFF MY SOAP BOX!!

As I said it was H O T,

the child had to be restrained. Toddlers don't like confinement WE all know that.

Once we got to this location there was a very very very steep drop off no gates or fence. There

were 3 adults with him. One decided it was a good idea to sit on the edge of the drop off

and point out birds to the child. At this point I lost ALL concentration.

One wrong move was all it would have taken.

Finally one of the adults took back to a place where he could stand.

Looking down into what was more than likely a kitchen or common area.

The group you see below was the group before us. It is the end of their tour. Guess what?

There are 3 ladders one has to climb to get back up 150' to the top of the cliffs.

Now it is time for our us to head down.

I am thrilled to say we made it up all 3 ladders which thankfully are all pretty much surrounded by rock and very narrow so I felt ok on them. I don't know how in the world the family with the toddler made it up the ladders...but I know they did. Once we were on the motor coach I saw them.

Later I'll show you some photos from Arches National Park...most taken from the Motor Coach.
Below is a photo of Wilson Arch...the only arch one could actually walk to.Click here to read about Wilson Arch
Several tourist were actually walking up to stand under the arch. If you squint, you can see them. It was actually farther away than you would think and it was a rugged climb.The elevation of Wilson Arch is about 6,150 feet

Madi Dad and Madi Mom at Wilson Arch
...mom should have had on her shades... I think she might
have added about 100 wrinkles around her eyes.

Thank you for stopping by...Mom says she promises not to bore you with too many details on our pics...we will give links to where you can read if you so desire.
Hugs
Madi

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Today in honor of Independence Day I'd like to share some photos of an unexpected

tour we took on our trip to Colorado.

On Monday, June 26, we were on the road from Colorado Springs to the Denver airport to catch our flight home. Our tour guide told us we had about 20 extra minutes to spare.

She said we'd be passing right by the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

She asked if we were interested in stopping by for a quick ride around the campus and to see the Cadet Chapel. Everyone was very interested. When I say quick I mean quick, but I made use of the time and was able to get some beautiful photos.

U.S.A.F Academy was established in 1955 at Lowry AF Base, CO.

It moved to its permanent location in 1958. It is a free tourist destination. There is a huge Visitor's center(31,600 sq ft) facility that we did not have time to visit. From the visitor's center you can walk 1/3 mile paved trails to the Cadet Chapel, which is the most visited man made tourist attraction in Colorado. The chapel features 17 spires that each 150' toward the beautiful Colorado blue skies.

Close up of the spires

side view of the spires as you are walking through the Honor Court to the

front entrance of the Cadet Chapel

A few of the bronze statutes in the Honor Court and aircraft memorials

Within the Chapel one can find a Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist and All Faith worship spaces.

Due to the time we had I was only able to see the Protestant and Catholic Chapels.

The pipe organ in the Protestant Cadet Chapel was breathtaking.

It is the 3rd largest pipe organ in an building that is not a church

click here to view a YouTube Video of the pipe organ in use
Weddings, funerals and other memorial services are regularly held here too.

Alter in the Protestant Chapel

The most unusual architecture was amazing as were the stain glass windows

Catholic Chapel

Next summer the entire structure will be closed for 4 years to undergo major repairs and renovation.Click here to read about it
The architecture was years and years ahead of the actual building abilities.
We were told it leaks like a sieve in heavy rain.

I could have easily spent 1/2 a day looking at everything. Since this visit was not on our agenda, I was just happy to see what I could.

So on this Independence day I thank all the armed forces who have protected the United States
over all these years and those who are training to SERVE AND PROTECT OUR
GREAT COUNTY.